The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted its annual awards gala Thursday night.
The ceremony reflected on last year and is meant “to acknowledge the work people are doing in our community,” said Glenn Morris, the Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO and President.
“ It also gives us a chance to kind of highlight examples of what excellence looks like so everybody else kind of has a standard to shoot for," said Morris.
The list of winners was:
- Ambassador of the Year: Kelsi Fitzgerald (Veritas Innovative Pest & Termite Solutions)
- Young Professional of the Year: Robert Tolan
- Robert P. Hatch Citizen of the Year: Pastor Carl Nielsen
- Robert F. Grogan Public Service Award: (posthumously awarded) Dan Blough (Santa Barbara County Planning Commission)
- Tourism Partner of the Year: Cubanissimo Cuban Coffee House & Cafe
- Non-Profits of the Year: Transitions-Mental Health Association and Northern Santa Barbara County United Way
- Small Business of the Year: Cugini's Pizzeria & Trattoria
- Large Business of the Year: Atlas Copco-Mafi Trench
“I feel like I’m here because of all of our members and everyone who has supported me through the years. I feel like this award is really for all of them helping me get to this point”, said Tolan.
